I took Waffles, our 11 year old golden retriever puppy, out this morning for a short walk to go potty and while we were out there my attention was drawn to some Canadian Geese flying over head. I noticed them them because I heard one of them honk. I assume one was honking at the other one as some form of communication, but I really don't know. But as I watched them fly by I notice after about 7 or 8 flaps of their wings, one of them gave another single honk.
I wondered how can they communicate much variety of conversation with seemingly one word, HONK. How boring would that trip be if all you could say to each other was HONK? There must be little nuances that make each HONK a little different than another providing some variety, right?
All I can say is, HONK HONK HONK HONK HONK HONK. Which is Canadian Goose for, I am grateful to be human.
Looks like there is more to them than meets the eye:
ReplyDeleteWhile many people know about the “honk” and “hiss” from geese, there is evidence that Canada geese can communicate at a sophisticated level with many different calls from loud greeting and alarm calls to the low clucks and murmurs of feeding geese.
Canada geese may be one of the most talkative animals after humans. Goslings, or baby geese, begin communicating with their parents while still in the egg. Their calls are limited to greeting "peeps," distress calls and high-pitched trills signaling contentment.